The Big Finish Catch-up February - November 2017

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues, here are some snap reviews of stories I've heard this year;

The Sontaran Ordeal, from the Classic Doctors/New Monsters box set. A good one featuring a time war era 8th Doctor and the Sontarans. Moody as hell and a bit of a cheat having a classic monster 9/10.

The Skull of Sobek, with the 8th Doctor and Lucie. A so-so unmemorable story 5/10.

Kingdom of Silver, with the 7th Doctor. A very good start but the story loses atmosphere when it changes location 7/10.

Keepsake, a follow up to the last story and lovely intimate story 9/10.

Judoon in Chains, the 6th Doctor in a fun adventure with the Judoon 8/10.

Grand Theft Cosmos, the 8th Doctor and Lucie in a series of events that get more and more out of hand 8/10.

The Doomwood Curse, the 6th Doctor and Charley in the best story I've heard in ages 10/10.

Time Reef, the 5th Doctor and Nyssa in an interesting story that doesn't quite fit the episode format 7/10.

Perfect World, a follow up to the last story that left me non-plussed and stopped before it got started 5/10.

The Zygon Who Fell to Earth, good but it needs another episode and rotates between whimsy and dark to much for one episode 6/10.

Hive of Horror, the 4th Doctor in the finale to his first BBC box set. Ends on a high and emotional as its my final story with Wibbsey as I've heard the other box sets 8/10.

Brotherhood of the Daleks, the 6th Doctor and Charley in an intense plot driven story that has one to many ends 9/10.

The Death Collectors and Spiders Shadow, the 7th Doctor in two decent if unmemorable stories 5/10 and 6/10.

The Vengeance of Morbius, the finale of the 8th Doctors second season. Decent with a very good cliffhanger 6/10.

The Raincloud Man, the 6th Doctor and Charley in a follow up to an earlier story and moves between noir and the more fantastic incredibly well 10/10.

Castle of Fear, the 5th Doctor and Nyssa in the most fun story I've heard this year 9.5/10.

The Magic Mousetrap, the 7th Doctor in a well plotted mystery 9.5/10.

Papercuts, a good tight story with the 6th Doctor and Charley 7/10.

The Romance of Crime, a fun runaround with the 4th Doctor, Romana and K9 9/10.

Enemy of the Daleks, a moody story featuring the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex 7/10.

The Eternal Summer, the 5th Doctor and Nyssa in a well plotted story 8/10.

Patient Zero, the 6th Doctor and Charley in a cracker of a story 10/10.

The Company of Friends, the 8th Doctor in a collection of fun stories with various companions 6/10.

Plague of the Daleks, the 5th Doctor and Nyssa in a fine finale to the Stockbridge trilogy 8/10.

The Angel of Scutari, good but not as good as other war stories featuring the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex 7/10.

The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance, the original Doctor and team in a rather emotional coda and a-typical story 8/10.

The Scorchies, Jo Grant and the UNIT team in a fun story that will raise a laugh 7/10.

5 Tips for Fortnite

Good afternoon lady and gentle readers, lately I've been playing a lot of "Fortnite" the Battle Royal style computer game. Here are some top tips;

1. Stay out of the storm, players always "get lost in the storm" so always know where the safety zone is and get there with plenty of time to spare.

2. Don't jump straight out of the bus, you start the game by flying over the island in a bus. Don't jump straight out as most people do resulting in a crap game with sometimes 20 players getting killed be fore my feet sometimes hit the ground.

3. Know when to craft, early in the game only use the wood and only use it for stairs. You'll need metal and brick for later in the game to build a fort.

4. Explore the island, if you go to the same places sometimes you get poor loot and guns. Explore the island as the shrinking safety zone can be anywhere on the island.

5. Never run from a fight, if you turn your back on someone you will be shot. Learn how to fight and what weapons are best for short and long range.

Its Christmas - Its not Christmas

An annoying habit is people celebrating Christmas early and earlier with the end result is Christmas themed adverts and TV shows as early as quarter past November. Christmas decorations are already up in some homes as well as shops and it is utterly ridiculous.

I don't know about you lady and gentle reader but its this bloggers opinion to let Christmas be Christmas. Lets not be led into starting early because some shop wants to launch a Black Friday sale, as far as I'm concerned Christmas begins on December the 1st and ends on boxing day. I will not be swayed on the subject and will no doubt be in the Christmas spirit in a little under a fortnight.

The Big Finish Catch-up: January 2017

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues;

First up this month was 'Assassin in the Limelight" featuring Colin Baker as the 6th Doctor and Maggie Stables as Evelyn. This is a very strong story from Robert Ross and sees him bring back Knox as played by Leslie Phillips. Its a story dripping in atmosphere with a similar vibe to the writers debut story which is also set around a lesser known event in history. Theres a plot which gets stronger as the story goes along but the main draw to this story is the return of Knox who has a great rapport with the regulars. Also I'm treasuring Maggie Stables as Evelyn as I don't know how many stories we have left with her. In short a strong, powerful story and in effect possibly the finale of an unofficial Robert Ross trilogy, 8/10.

Next up was "The Boy that Time Forgot" featuring Peter Davison as the 5th Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa. A rather fun pulpish adventure story given added depth by Andrew Sachs character, I wont be spoiling this as I'd recommend that you come to this story like me and get taken by the surprise of it. The story feels a bit disjointed and leads into the next story for this TARDIS crew, however I was expecting more of Thomas Brewster and I was genuinely thrown a bit of kilter by the unexpected nature of this story 8/10.

Next up was "A Sting in the Tale" with Tom baker as the 4th Doctor and Richard Franklin as Mike Yates. A good solid story which focuses on plot instead of the flavour I tend to associate with this range. It has the feeling of a story where the stage is being set for later releases but Tom Baker is brilliant, 7/10.

Finally this month we have Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor and Sheridan Smith as Lucie. Of the stories I heard this month "Brave New Town" is my favourite. A lovely plot, fantastic performances and full of aspects that still stay strong in the memory as I write this months later. This has become my go to story when I think of one that does the 60 minute (half the normal length of a Big Finish release) perfectly. Highly recommended 9/10

Doctor Foster

Good afternoon lady and gentle readers, for those of you unaware this evening is the final episode of the second series of Doctor Foster a drama on BBC 1. I for one wont be watching and haven't been watching since week one. Allow me to explain why...

Episode one was a slow build up of tension for the titular Doctor Foster with her ex husband that result in her taking her wedding ring off and melting it in acid. After 55 minutes of build up I was left feeling non-plussed and asking myself 'is that it?' In short it was an episode of building up to nothing, in a cinema for a two hour film this is acceptable not on a TV show where we have a week between episodes.

On mentioning tonights episode to my sister about tonights episode I asked if anything had actually happened yet. Her answer was 'no.' I'm so glad I got out of this show when I did, three weeks of build up to something is my idea of poor TV. If anyone is still watching I hope you're enjoying it but for the rest of us endless buildup isn't enough. It is poor pacing of a TV series and I for one will not be risking tuning in if there is a third series.

Thoughts on Virgil van Dijk going into Transfer Day

I don't understand Liverpool FC fandoms obsession with Virgil van Dijk.

I'm not here to bury him I'm not here to praise him I'm not here to bury him I'm here to give my take on the situation and tell the facts how I see them.

First things first, van Dijk is a perfectly decent centre back, Liverpool don't need a perfectly decent centre back. We should be looking for someone a level higher up than that. Liverpool are in the Champions League for the second time in nine seasons. If Liverpool want to stay at this level and push on we need to be looking for a centre back with top quality experience at this level. There are plenty of very good players currently at teams who have fallen out of a Champions League spot or still in them who we are in a position to try and sign them.

This is the level of player I think we should be going for, instead Liverpool fans have developed an obsession for Virgil van Dijk whose experience of the Champions League is losing with Celtic and winning two SPL titles with no opposition for Celtic. I've heard talk of van Dijk taking the Premiership by storm over the last two years, which conveniently forgets he spent half of last season out injured.

I'm not saying don't buy him, if anything I'd put out a case for bringing him in January. In short he just isn't a priority we need to be going for a defender with go faster stripes who is going to drag the rest of the defence up by their bootstraps. I have seen nothing to convince me that Virgil van Dijk is that player, as such he isn't a deadline day priority.

Thoughts going into Hoffenheim Vs Liverpool

Its early in the football season and tonight Liverpool play the first leg in their qualifying tie against Hoffenheim. Essentially everything achieved in the league comes down to these two games against decent German opposition. The mood is worrying to cautious, having played one league game the worries from last season are still in place, mainly the defence and lack of a dynamic defensive midfielder.

A lot of my thinking going into tonight's game is based on the 3-3 draw with Watford at the weekend and they are as follows;

Mingolet cannot start, Klopp himself said there is a three way shoot out for the keepers jersey this season and based on two of the goals conceded Mingolet has lost his place and should join the back of the queue.

Moreno looked decent, he's not a defender and I believe he needs to be played further up field but he's looking good and was our best attacker at the weekend.

I'm not going to turn on the midfield three of Can, Wijnaldum and Henderson after one game but collectively they got off to a slow start and need to have more impact tonight.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mane and Salah running riot with hopefully Firmino joining in more than at the weekend.

With regards to the squad I'm disappointed we haven't brought in a central defender. We need more quality in that area of the pitch, also I'm not convinced Virgil van Dijk  is the player we need. We should be going for proven Champions League quality and all van Dijk has done at that level is get tonked by various clubs with Celtic.

Overall thoughts for tonight's match are I want us tight, I want us to work as a unit, get a goal or two and kill the second leg at home.